Travel with a global consciousness and a beautiful passport bag decorated with delicate hand-embroidered floral patterns in Guatemala. Mace in partnership with Mayo Traditions, these bags support health and education programs in the communities where they are made, as well as sustaining a way of life for artisan women in the Guatemala highlands.

Black or Burgundy

100% cotton

Approximately 6.5" H x 4.5" H (16.5 x 11.4 cm)

Handmade in and fairly traded from Guatemala

Created to help women worldwide gain economic security for themselves and their families by earning fair wages for their handiwork, Global Girlfriend sources women-made, fair-trade imported, eco-friendly products. By supporting long-term partnerships with the artisans, it fosters equal employment opportunities, healthy and safe working conditions, technical assistance, and development strategies to help reduce poverty, one community at a time. Become a "Global Girlfriend" and help build a brighter future for girlfriends around the globe!

Recent reviews:

December 21, 2012 -
I ordered the burgundy one for my daughter. It's even prettier in person because you can see the stiching detail.

Artisan: Backstrap Weavers

Artisan Yolanda Calgua Morales

Yolanda lives in mountainous village near the town of Chichicastenango in the highlands of Guatemala. As a child she observed and helped with the backstrap weaving process and by the time she was a teenager she had learned the ancient craft under the tutelage of her mother. After finishing sixth grade, Yolanda chose the traditional life of a weaver and eventually married a farmer and had two children. The income that Yolanda has earned over the years as a weaver has helped her buy land and build three small adobe houses. Yolanda's design ability and expertise make her an artistically exceptional weaver who is a traditional "carrier" of the art and culture of backstrap weaving. With her special gift and years of experience, Yolanda is now known as one of the best weavers in her village.

Artisan Antonia Panjoj Guarcax

Antonia Panjoj Guarcax is an exceptional woman with an inspiring story. In response to a massacre in the early 1980's, Antonia founded a weaving group in her mountain village in the highlands of Western Guatemala. Antonia's exceptional leadership and values have supported the women in her group for over twenty years. Traditionally, weaving was a cultural activity for indigenous women who wove almost exclusively for their families. However, after many women lost their husbands, brothers, father and uncles in the massacre, selling their weavings became an economic strategy vital to their survival. Antonia works to help her group gain markets for their weavings, aiding in the economic vitality of her community.

One of Antonia's most successful initiatives resulted in the building of a community center for her weaving group. In collaboration with a fair trade organization, her group received and paid back a loan for communal land where members plant and harvest corn to sell when yearly supplies dwindle. These funds serve as capital for the group's projects. Later on, the weavers and their families provided labor to build the community center on this communal land.

Antonia's success as a leader and artisan has brought opportunity to her family as well. Antonia's son, Gilberto, is attending medical school at the San Carlos University in Guatemala City and her daughter, Yolanda, is learning leadership skills as an intern with a local organization where she helps facilitate adult education.